Two-way rail anchor



Dec. 9, 1969 w. B. aux, JR 3,482,779

TWO-WAY RAIL ANCHOR Filed Feb. 19, 1968 United States Patent US. Cl. 238-315 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to an improvement in two-way rail anchors and includes two simple parts, a clamp and a shim. The shim can be used with any ordinary tie plate and has spurs at each end, which enter a tie plate aperture. These shims are universal in plate application and may be applied at either side of any tie, or on either side of the rail, and will fit any rail base. With a shim design adapted for use with all rail sections only the clamp has to be varied for different rail sections. The clamp may be applied, if desired, so that its side is in contact with the side of the tie plate.

The invention relates to an improvement in two-way rail anchors and has for one purpose to provide such an anchor which shall be simple, compact and efficient.

Another purpose is to provide a tWo-way rail anchor which shall be well adapted for use with wood ties and in connection with tie plates normally used on wood ties, but also well adapted for use with ties of other materials.

Another purpose is the provision of a simple, strong structure which is effective to hold a rail against the longitudinal movement in relation to a tie, which may take place either as a result of the action of trains moving over the track or of the contractions or expansions of the rail itself in response to temperature changes. Two pieces only need be employed, including a shim design adapted for use with all rail sections and a clamp which may be varied, if necessary, for different rail sections.

Another purpose is the provision of a structure for holding a rail against longitudinal movement in relation to a tie, while permitting the rail adequate freedom of up and down movement in relation to the tie and plate.

Other purposes will appear from time to time in the course of the specification and claims.

The invention is illustrated more or less diagramatically in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating an anchor in use;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section through the anchor structure;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the clamp employed;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a locking shim;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation of such a shim;

FIGURE 6 is an end elevation; and 7 FIGURE 7 is an end elevation of a variant form of shim.

Like parts are indicated by like symbols throughout the specification and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1, 1 indicate ties, and 2 a rail with its rail base 3. 4, 4 indicate tie plates apertured as at 5 to receive spikes for securing them to the tie. As illustrated in FIGURE 1, the plates may have two or more apertures at each side of the rail. The invention includes the use of a locking shim, generally indicated at 6, which includes a web portion 7 formed and adapted to overlie the rail base, as shown in FIG- 3,482,779 Patented Dec. 9, 1969 URES 1 and 2. The shim has end reinforcements 8 which are shown as extending downwardly as spurs 9. Preferably, the shim is thickened at each end, as at the reinforcement 8, with its intermediate portion having a surface, for example, as indicated at 10 in FIGURE 6, which is lower than the reinforcements 8. It will be understood that the shape of the shim may be substantially varied. For example, it need not be of the generally rectangular plan as shown in FIGURE 4, but may be rounded or beveled, or otherwise formed. Also, the surface 10 may be formed with a limiting, upwardly extending flange 10a, as shown in FIGURE 7. Where the upwardly extending flange 10a is used to prevent overdriving of the clamp the contour of the clamp may be somewhat different than as shown in FIGURE 2. In such case the bend of the clamp may actually engage the abutment 10a.

The spurs 9 are of such a size as to penetrate readily into one of the tie plate apertures 5. In use, with the rail 2 held by spikes 20 passing through apertures 5 in the tie plates 4, the rail can be locked against endwise movement by the application of the shim 6 to overlie the rail base, with one of the spurs 9 penetrating one of the tie plate apertures 5. The shim is shown in this position in FIGURE 1.

The shim is locked to the rail base, for example, by the use of a clamp, such as is shown in FIGURE 3. The clamp may include a portion 15, extending beneath the rail base, as shown in FIGURE 2. At one end it is shown as having an upwardly turned abutment 16 and at the opposite end as having a securing or locking spring portion 17 which overlies and grips the shim 6, for example, contacting the reduced or thin portion indicated at 10 in FIGURE 6. The clamp, when in the position in which it is shown in FIGURE 2, firmly clamps the shim to the upper side of the rail base. The shim performs its function by its spur 9 which enters an aperture 5 of the tie plate 4 and thus resists longitudinal movement of the rail. It will be understood that the shim may be applied at either side of a tie, and is so proportioned that the clamp 15 may closely approach or abut the tie side. The clamp may also be applied so that its side is in contact with the side of the tie plate. In practice, this may become important, since it may provide more resistance to longitudinal movement in one direction than might be obtained by the penetration of the spur in the plate hole.

It will be realized that whereas an operative example of the invention has been herein described, many changes may be made in size, shape, number and disposition of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the disclosure herein should be taken as in a broad sense illustrative or diagrammatic rather than as being limited precisely to the showing made. For example, as to the structure as shown in FIGURE 6, the reduced portion 10 may be made to terminate in an upwardly extending flange 10a instead of with a gradual upward curve. Such a flange may function as a clamp stop, as shown in FIGURE 7.

The use and operation of the invention'are as follows:

The present invention is intended to provide means for securing rails to ties which shall be of maximum simplicity, and ease of application, and which shall involve reversible parts. The invention should be considered in relation to its place in the rail anchor art. While the invention is useful in relation to wood ties, it is also applicable for use with ties of other material. Tie plate and tie act as a unit. In any tie system it is disadvantageous to use a two-way anchor, or any anchor which secures the rail and ties together for unitary movement as traflic passes over the track. Past experience indicates that this unitary construction creates a pumping condition which brings up moisture from considerable depths in the ballast and, in practice, causes a muddy condition of the ballast under and around the tie. This is at the point where the bearing or load supporting qualities of the ballast may thereby deteriorate. While my invention supplies a two-way anchoring arrangement which holds the rail from movement it does this while permitting the rail the desired freedom of up-and-down movement on the tie plate and tie. The rail needs or wants this freedom.

In conventional wood tie track with standard railroad spikes it does not take too long a period of time, even in new track construction, for the spikes to be forced upward slightly, so that the under sides of the heads are not in contact with the rail. This is apparently caused by the fact that a train moving over a piece of track which is supported on non-rigid ballast and on non-rigid wood ties produces a wave motion in the track such that the track where the car wheels are at a given instant is depressed slightly below its normal unloaded level. This depression causes an upward motion of the track above the unloaded level at each side of the depression. In effect, this upward motion may be described as a negative pressure, which pulls the spikes up slightly out of the tie.

Since the rail tends to want" to move up and down on the ties, and since any arrangement that fastens the rail rigidly, or semi-rigidly, to the ties prevents this natural relationship between rails and tie, my two-way anchor of the present invention is designed to permit such a motion. The rail with the shim and clamp attached to its moves up and down, this motion being permitted, and limited only by the spikes.

With reference to the structure herein shown, I may use any suitable tie plates, for example, standard plates, the details of which do not form part of the present invention. It will be understood that they normally have two or more apertures at each side of the rail base. Such tie plates are normally used to receive the rail base and provide apertures for driving rail securing spikes into the ties, as shown in FIGURE 1. In the structure and use of the present invention no modification of the tie plates is need ed, any standard tie plates being usable. A simple rail clamp is used, as is shown at 15 in FIGURE 3. To use this clamp, to prevent unintended longitudinal movement of the rails I employ a reversible shim of simple structure which can interpenetrate, at either end, with a spike hole of a tie plate. The shim may be of a wide variety of shape, but it is important to have spurs at each end, so that one spur of such a shim, at either end of the shim, can penetrate one of the spike apertures of a tie plate. The shim extends outwardly of the tie, as shown in FIG- URE 5, and its two spurs 9 closely approach the adjacent edge of the rail base. With a shim spur inserted in a spike hole of a tie plate, as shown in FIGURE 1, a clamp 15, for example, as shown in FIGURE 3, may be employed to secure the shim firmly to and against the upper surface of the rail base. Thus the shim is'secured to the rail base, and also interpenetrates with a hole of the fixed tie plate of an adjacent tie. The spur 9 will move up and down in a spike hole of the tie plate. Thus the shims prevent unintended endwise movement of the rails across the ties. The shim can be applied to either side of any rail and to any ordinarily used tie plate. It can be positioned at either side of any tie. As pointed out above, the clamp may be applied so that its side is in contact with the side of the tie plate. This may provide a maximum resistance to longitudinal movement of the rail, which may take place either as a result of the action of the trains moving over the track or of contraction or expansion of the rail itself. As a theoretical illustration, if the track in a particular location has a strong tendency to move east, but not much of a tendency to move west, then the clamp may be placed against the west side of the tie plates, thus providing maximum anchorage strength to counter the eastward movement tendency of the rail. Whether the clamp is installed against the tie plate or not is, of course, a matter of choice. The structure is of complete simplicity. The two parts or adjacent elements are universal in their application, and can be applied at either side of any tie.

It should be kept in mind that the particular shape of shim shown in the drawings, as in FIGURE 6, is illustrative rather than limiting. Although I have successfully employed shims of the shape shown, it will be understood that I may employ a shoulder 10a which will provide a stop for the hook end of the clamp, to prevent its being over-driven. Overdriving is a problem with all present one-way type drive-on snap-on anchors, because over-driving can deform the hook portion, and thus the effective grip on the rail can be lost.

I claim:

1. In a two-way rail anchor assembly for use with a railroad rail and a tie plate, a two-part anchor which includes a locking shim having a portion formed to overlie the base of a rail and a clamp having a bottom portion formed to extend beneath the rail base, said two-way rail anchor assembly to include said clamp including a bottom portion having at one end a spring bend, formed and adapted to overlie and clamp the shim to the rail base and having at the other end an upwardly extending abutment positioned to prevent movement of the clamp across a rail and said shim having an intermediate web with a reinforcement at each end of a thickness greater than the web, said reinforcements being formed continuously with the downwardly extending spurs, the lower surface of the web and reinforcements being formed and adapted to abut the upper surface of the rail base, the spurs extending annularly downward from the end reinforcements and outside of and below the edge of the intermedtiae portion.

2. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that the shim has a reinforcement at each end and an intermediate portion with a thickness substantially less than that of the end reinforcements, said reinforcements being continuous with the downwardly extending spurs.

3. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that the shim has a longitudinal upwardly extending shoulder along its inner edge.

4. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that the shim has a reinforcement at each end and an intermediate portion with a thickness substantially less than that of the end reinforcements, said intermediate portion terminating in an upward projection adapted to act as a clamp stop.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,252,116 8/ 1941 Clarkson 2383 15 2,324,452 7/ 1943 Woodings.

3,240,429 3/1966 Spencer 238-315 3,295,760 1/ 1967 Moses 238-283 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner RICHARD A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner 

